Road safety campaigners in Addingham are still hopeful that a scheme to save lives will not be ditched because of a new Government policy.

Whitehall has announced proposals to pass responsibility for the A65 trunk road from the Highways Agency to local authority highways departments.

Instead of being funded from Central Government, safety improvements on the A65 in Ilkley and Addingham would have to be paid for by cash-strapped Bradford Council.

The announcement has left a question mark over the future of planned improvements on the Addingham bypass and at Manor Park Bends.

At a recent meeting of the village Parish Council a senior traffic officer for Bradford Council, Andy Brown, outlined possible options for road safety improvements at the junction with Main Street and at the Silsden Road roundabout.

Parish councillors said they would prefer a scheme which creates extra road markings and warning signs for drivers approaching the junction and the roundabout, together with rumble strips in the road.

This week Parish Council chairman Stephen Crossley-Smith said he was still hopeful that the scheme would go ahead despite the proposed change of stewardship.

"It is still a bit up in the air. I would "We are still hopeful we will be getting the safety improvements."

The future of a scheme to straighten out the Manor Park Bends at a cost of £2 million is also now in doubt.

Andy Brown, a senior traffic officer at Bradford Council, said Highways Agency staff were trying to work out where the Government announcement leaves them and what happens next.

There will now be negotiations with the Highways Agency and Bradford Council about the future of the A65 and the planned road safety measures.

It is believed that if the Council is willing to take it over, Government cash may be provided to fund schemes already in the pipeline.

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